All set for A Tale of Two Cities

Community cast all set for A Tale of Two Cities from The Touring Consortium Theatre Company in association with Darlington Civic Theatre.

Charles Dickens considered his novel, A Tale Of Two Cities to be the best story he had ever written. Interweaving one family’s intensely personal drama with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution, it is an epic story of love, sacrifice and redemption amidst horrific violence and world changing events.

The Touring Consortium Theatre Company, who most recently brought Of Mice And Men, A View From The Bridge and Brave New World to Darlington Civic Theatre have (in partnership with the theatre) created a totally unique production of A Tale Of Two Cities using a cast of community actors.

This new adaptation by Mike Poulton (Fortune’s Fool, Old Vic; Wolf Hall, RSC) is led by director Eduard Lewis who has worked extensively for the Royal Exchange Theatre, and will be staged in the atmospheric setting of Darlington’s Central Hall, where Dickens himself read on 21 September 1858.

Eduard Lewis said: “In A Tale of Two Cities Dickens masterfully sets a love triangle to the backdrop of the most bloody revolution of his era, the French Revolution. He says in the opening of the novel that ‘the times were so like our own as to be almost indistinguishable from them’ looking to Syria, Turkey and even the Black Lives Matter movement in America we can see that this is truer now than it ever has been. Revolution is a part of the fabric of human society, when we see injustice in the world people rise up and stand against it. Mike Poulton’s exceptional adaptation takes the core dramatic elements of Dickens’ novel and condenses it into an action packed two-act play. I could not be happier to be bringing this epic story to the unique setting of the Central Hall and to have the privilege of making it with the people of Darlington, for the people of Darlington. It’s a process that Dickens himself, a great lover of the theatre, would be proud of.”

Please note this is a promenade performance which means that the action will take place in various locations around the set, and the audience will be stand and watch in spaces around the action, and then walk to different locations in the room following the actors as the scenes change and the play progresses. We would encourage the audience to stand to be fully immersed in the experience, however some limited seating options will be available if seating is required.

A Tale Of Two Cities is at Central Hall, Dolphin Centre, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November.

Tickets* are priced £18 for adults, under 16s £10

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk